Commuting in Otter Tail County, Minnesota: how long it takes, when people leave home and how they get to work. Ask Map AI about any address.
You9/24/26, 8:15 PM
What does a typical morning commute look like in Otter Tail County?
Map AI9/24/26, 8:15 PM
Commute Time Burden in Otter Tail County: Annual Hours and Cost
Commuters in Otter Tail County spend about 33 minutes on the road round trip each working day. Over a typical 250-day work year, that adds up to roughly 136 hours, about 5.7 full days, spent commuting. That is 20% less time on the road than the Minnesota average of 20.3 minutes each way, a difference of 4.0 minutes.
Otter Tail County holds about 1.1% of Minnesota's population but accounts for roughly 0.8% of its total commuting time.
Working from home just 2 days a week in Otter Tail County would save about 54 hours of drive time a year, worth roughly $1,685 at the same national wage assumption used above.
Area
One-Way Commute
Daily Round-Trip
Yearly Time Spent
Estimated Yearly Cost
Local Road Traffic (VPD)
Otter Tail County
16.3 min
32.6 min
136 hrs/yr
$4,212
408
Minnesota
20.3 min
40.6 min
169 hrs/yr
$5,249
854
United States
22.4 min
44.8 min
187 hrs/yr
$5,790
1,355
The estimated yearly cost applies a single national rule of thumb (U.S. Bureau of Labor
Statistics average hourly earnings), not a measurement of wages in this area - treat it
as a rough estimate, not a paycheck figure. Local road traffic counts, vehicles per day
on non-highway roads, come from proprietary
Ticon and
TrafficZoom data.
On average, it takes
16.3
minutes to get to work in
Otter Tail County.
That's 27% shorter than the 22.4-minute U.S. average.
The most common departure window is 07:30 AM – 07:59 AM, followed by 07:00 AM – 07:29 AM. Driving is the most common commute choice, followed by working from home. About 10.4% work from home.
How People Get to Work in Otter Tail County
Car:
84.2%
Worked at Home:
10.4%
Walked:
2.9%
Other:
1.2%
Public Transportation:
0.8%
Bicycle:
0.3%
Motorcycle:
0.1%
Taxi:
< 0.1%unusually low
Taking a taxi is unusually rare in Otter Tail County: 8.2 times less than the Minnesota average (0.0% vs 0.2%).
Commute Mode Trends in Otter Tail County, 2009-2024
This chart shows how workers in Otter Tail County get to work, as a share of all workers aged 16 and over, across 16 U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey (ACS) releases from 2009 to 2024. Each release is a 5-year estimate: the 2024 figures cover surveys taken from 2020 to 2024. Because neighboring releases share most of their survey years, the lines move gradually, and a sudden change such as the rise of remote work in 2020 spreads across several releases. Hover over or tap a line to highlight it, and use the legend to show or hide a mode. Driving starts hidden so the smaller modes stay readable.
Share of workers aged 16 and over, by ACS 5-year release year. Source: U.S. Census Bureau.Show commute mode data by year
Year
Car
Worked at Home
Walked
Other
Public Transportation
Bicycle
Motorcycle
Taxi
2009
88.2%
5.9%
4.6%
0.4%
0.5%
0.2%
0.1%
0.1%
2010
87.7%
5.7%
5.2%
0.3%
0.6%
0.4%
0.1%
0.1%
2011
88.0%
5.7%
4.8%
0.3%
0.8%
0.4%
0.1%
0.0%
2012
87.8%
5.8%
4.4%
0.4%
0.9%
0.7%
0.1%
0.0%
2013
88.0%
5.5%
4.6%
0.5%
0.7%
0.6%
0.1%
0.0%
2014
88.4%
5.3%
4.2%
0.6%
0.7%
0.6%
0.1%
0.0%
2015
88.1%
5.5%
4.0%
0.8%
0.9%
0.6%
0.1%
0.0%
2016
88.2%
5.3%
4.2%
0.7%
0.8%
0.6%
0.1%
0.0%
2017
88.2%
5.5%
4.5%
0.7%
0.8%
0.2%
0.1%
0.0%
2018
87.5%
5.9%
4.4%
0.7%
1.2%
0.3%
0.1%
0.0%
2019
86.2%
6.9%
4.5%
0.9%
1.2%
0.2%
0.0%
0.0%
2020
86.8%
7.8%
3.5%
0.8%
0.9%
0.2%
0.1%
0.0%
2021
85.5%
8.9%
3.3%
1.0%
0.9%
0.3%
0.1%
0.0%
2022
83.8%
10.0%
3.4%
1.3%
0.9%
0.4%
0.1%
0.0%
2023
83.4%
10.9%
3.1%
1.1%
0.7%
0.5%
0.1%
0.0%
2024
84.2%
10.4%
2.9%
1.2%
0.8%
0.3%
0.1%
0.0%
Driving was the most common way to get to work in every release from 2009 to 2024. Its share was highest in 2014 at 88.4% and lowest in 2023 at 83.4%. Overall it fell from 88.2% in 2009 to 84.2% in 2024, down 4.0 percentage points. It has risen in the latest release.
Working from home gained the most ground in Otter Tail County: its share of workers rose from 5.9% in 2009 to 10.4% in 2024, up 4.5 percentage points. Most of that increase, 3.5 points, came in the releases after 2019, which include the pandemic years.
Walking lost the most ground, falling from 4.6% to 2.9% of workers (down 1.7 percentage points).
Commute Start Times in Otter Tail County
What Time Do People Leave for Work in Otter Tail County?
The bars show when commuters in Otter Tail County leave home for work, as a share of everyone who commutes (people who work from home are not counted), from the 2024 ACS 5-year estimates. The thin violet marks show Minnesota for comparison. Hover over or tap a row for the exact numbers.
12:00-4:59 AM
12:00-4:59 AMOtter Tail County5.2%Minnesota5.0%
5.2%
5:00-5:29 AM
5:00-5:29 AMOtter Tail County3.9%Minnesota3.8%
3.9%
5:30-5:59 AM
5:30-5:59 AMOtter Tail County6.0%Minnesota5.2%
6.0%
6:00-6:29 AM
6:00-6:29 AMOtter Tail County7.7%Minnesota8.4%
7.7%
6:30-6:59 AM
6:30-6:59 AMOtter Tail County10.4%Minnesota10.2%
10.4%
7:00-7:29 AM
7:00-7:29 AMOtter Tail County15.3%Minnesota14.8%
15.3%
7:30-7:59 AM
7:30-7:59 AMOtter Tail County18.7%Minnesota13.8%
18.7%
8:00-8:29 AM
8:00-8:29 AMOtter Tail County9.7%Minnesota10.4%
9.7%
8:30-8:59 AM
8:30-8:59 AMOtter Tail County3.2%Minnesota4.7%
3.2%
9:00-9:59 AM
9:00-9:59 AMOtter Tail County4.7%Minnesota5.8%
4.7%
10:00-10:59 AM
10:00-10:59 AMOtter Tail County2.5%Minnesota2.7%
2.5%
11:00-11:59 AM
11:00-11:59 AMOtter Tail County0.4%Minnesota1.3%
0.4%
12:00-3:59 PM
12:00-3:59 PMOtter Tail County6.0%Minnesota8.2%
6.0%
4:00-11:59 PM
4:00-11:59 PMOtter Tail County6.2%Minnesota5.8%
6.2%
Otter Tail CountyMinnesotaSource: U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 5-year estimates
The busiest time to head out in Otter Tail County is 7:30-7:59 AM, when 18.7% of commuters leave home, compared with 13.8% across Minnesota. Early starts are more common than in Minnesota: 15.1% of commuters leave before 6 AM, versus 14.0% there. The morning rush is more concentrated than in Minnesota: 54.1% of departures fall in the two hours from 6:30 to 8:29 AM, versus 49.2% there. About 1 in 5 commuters (19.8%) leave at 9 AM or later, which usually points to shift work, flexible hours or part-time jobs.
When people leave matters as much as how far they go. Rush-hour traffic shrinks how much ground a 20-minute trip covers, so a trade area drawn as a simple circle often takes in neighborhoods that customers or staff would never drive from and misses others that are an easy trip. A drive-time zone, also called an isochrone, outlines every place within a set number of minutes of an address, which makes it the more honest way to size a store's catchment, a hiring area or the commute from a new home.
See it for yourself on the interactive map: click any spot in Otter Tail County, pick a 5, 10, 15 or 30-minute drive and see the local demographics of the people who live within that exact drive time.
Is Otter Tail County Waking Up Earlier? Typical Departure Time, 2009-2024
Each line follows the typical (median) departure time: the moment by which half of commuters have already left home. Higher on the chart means a later start. Setting Otter Tail County next to Minnesota and the U.S. shows whether local mornings are drifting earlier or later than everyone else's. The figures span 16 ACS 5-year releases, so changes build up gradually rather than jumping from one year to the next.
Median time commuters leave home, by ACS 5-year release year. Source: U.S. Census Bureau.Show typical departure times by year
Year
Otter Tail County
Minnesota
United States
2009
7:38 AM
7:36 AM
7:37 AM
2010
7:37 AM
7:36 AM
7:38 AM
2011
7:35 AM
7:36 AM
7:38 AM
2012
7:36 AM
7:36 AM
7:38 AM
2013
7:35 AM
7:36 AM
7:39 AM
2014
7:35 AM
7:36 AM
7:39 AM
2015
7:34 AM
7:36 AM
7:38 AM
2016
7:34 AM
7:35 AM
7:38 AM
2017
7:33 AM
7:34 AM
7:38 AM
2018
7:31 AM
7:34 AM
7:37 AM
2019
7:30 AM
7:33 AM
7:37 AM
2020
7:29 AM
7:33 AM
7:37 AM
2021
7:31 AM
7:33 AM
7:37 AM
2022
7:31 AM
7:34 AM
7:37 AM
2023
7:32 AM
7:35 AM
7:38 AM
2024
7:32 AM
7:36 AM
7:38 AM
In 2024, half of commuters in Otter Tail County were on the road by 7:32 AM, 5 minutes earlier than in 2009 (7:38 AM). Across Minnesota, the typical start barely moved over the same years. Commuters in Otter Tail County now leave 5 minutes earlier than the typical American commuter (7:38 AM). Since the 2019 release, which covers the years just before the pandemic, the typical start in Otter Tail County has moved 3 minutes later.
How does Otter Tail County's commute time compare?
Metric
Otter Tail County
Minnesota
US Average
Avg. Commute Time
16.3 min
20.3 min
22.4 min
Departure Window
07:30 AM – 07:59 AM
07:00 AM – 07:29 AM
07:00 AM – 07:29 AM
Secondary Departure Window
07:00 AM – 07:29 AM
07:30 AM – 07:59 AM
07:30 AM – 07:59 AM
Work From Home
10.4%
17.6%
15.0%
Walked
2.9%
2.5%
2.4%
Public Transit
0.8%
1.8%
3.2%
The average commute time in Otter Tail County is 16.3 minutes, shorter than the 20.3 minutes in Minnesota.
0.8% commute by public transit, lower than the 1.8% in Minnesota. 2.9% commute by walking, higher than the 2.5% in Minnesota.
Otter Tail County, MN Commute Compared With Nearby Counties
Otter Tail County, MN is the largest of the 6 counties compared here, 60,475 residents against a local median of 14,256. There is no headline here. Every measure below sits within 15% of the median across the nearest counties, which makes Otter Tail County, MN an unremarkable member of its own neighbourhood rather than an outlier in it.
The largest of those small differences is one-way commute, 3% below the local median at 16.3 min against 16.8 min. Otter Tail County, MN has the 3rd lowest one-way commute of the 6 areas compared here.
Common questions about commuting in Otter Tail County, Minnesota.
What is the financial impact of commuting in Otter Tail County, Minnesota?
Commuters here spend an estimated 136 hours a year on the road, worth roughly $4,212 at a typical national wage. That's 20% less than the typical Minnesota commuter spends.
What are the busiest morning travel hours in Otter Tail County, Minnesota?
Traffic peaks between 07:30 AM – 07:59 AM in Otter Tail County, Minnesota. Leaving before or after this window is the single easiest way to avoid the heaviest local congestion, though 07:00 AM – 07:29 AM also sees a secondary bump.
Which counties in Minnesota have the fastest and slowest commutes?
Among counties in Minnesota, the shortest average commutes are in Brown County (10.6 min), Pennington County (10.8 min), Cottonwood County (10.9 min). The longest are in Chisago County (30.9 min), Wright County (28.8 min), Sherburne County (28.8 min).